The BEST Niagara on the Lake Wineries for 2024

There has never been a more perfect blog post for me to write than the best Niagara on the Lake wineries. I have been to almost every single winery, some even multiple times. 

Being born and raised in Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake is a popular getaway destination, and one I have done many times in my 30 years.

My husband and I even got engaged at one of their wineries!

You are in the right hands here as I go through this list of the best NOTL wineries.

I have done many of the tours, some of the unique winery experiences, been to weddings at wineries, done hundreds of tastings and have eaten at most of them as well. 

You may see me use NOTL interchangeably with Niagara-on-the-Lake, it’s easier to type out, ok?

Let’s get you ready for the best Ontario wine trip!

Must be legal drinking age in Ontario, 19 years old, to participate in wine tastings.

Map of Wineries in Niagara on the Lake

The Ultimate List of the BEST Niagara on the Lake Wineries

What puts NOTL wine region on the map is it’s huge production of icewine, successful here due to Niagara’s weather.

Icewine is the liquid gold of Niagara and you must taste it while you are here.

Each winery listed below offers basic tastings and some premium tastings that include charcuterie or snack pairings.

I will highlight the cool and unique tours and experiences you can do at these top NOTL wineries.

I will even throw in my favourite drink recommendations for a few! 😉🍷

I am not a sommelier, but, I am a Toronto girl who loves wine, so here we go!

Let’s start this list off with the most popular and work our way down. The first three listed are all part of the Peller family wineries. 

Some links in this NOTL winery post are affiliate. If clicked, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Peller Estates

When I think of NOTL wineries, Peller is the first one that comes to mind.

The Peller family owns three of the best wineries in the region; Peller Estates, Wayne Gretzky Estates and Trius Winery.

Below are the coolest winery tours and experiences offered by Peller.

For every bottle you purchase, receive a $5 discount off the price of the tour.

Ie. for a $45 tour, purchase 9 bottles of wine and the tour is free! (Wine math = winning).

Peller Estates Tours & Experiences

Greatest Winery Tour

I wholeheartedly recommend this tour. I have done it now two times, once with my husband and once when my Slovenian cousins were visiting.

Everyone loves this winery tour.

For $45, you will have a tour of the vineyard with sparkling wine, next the underground barrel cellar for another tasting and finally the cool igloo-like icewine cellar for some delicious Niagara icewine.

The 10Below Icewine Lounge makes this one of the coolest wine tours in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

They provide you with warm winter coats for the -10°C temperatures, however, the tour is indoor and outdoor, so make sure you dress weather appropriate.

Sip and Paint Night

One Sunday per month, Peller Estates hosts a Sip and Paint night.

For $115 per person, enjoy a 2 hour painting session with 2 delicious 6oz glasses of wine.

Paint, canvas, wine and charcuterie are all included!

Peller Events

Chardonnay Rendezvous

Saturday, July 20th 2024

This summer, enjoy a tour and sit back in the Chardonnay vines of Peller Estates.

The event starts off with a tour with wine tastings and food pairings, followed by a lunch on the terrace with Chardonnay from visiting wineries in South Africa.

Tickets are $125 per person.

Wayne Gretzky Estates

Most people know that Wayne Gretzky is Canada’s most famous hockey player, however, not many know he also grew up with family in the wine making biz!

Wayne Gretzky Estates is known for it’s whiskey, wine and hockey influence throughout.

Year round Wayne Gretzky’s is a vibe! Sit back at the Whiskey Bar Patio or Wine Garden in the summer season.

Alternatively, if visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake in winter, bring your skates and hit the rink!

Wayne Gretzky Estates offers walk in tastings daily.

Wayne Gretzky Estates Tours & Experiences

The Wine, Spirit and Cocktail Tour

This is a new tour at Wayne Gretzky Estates this year! I did a similar tour to this last year, however, it was with wine whiskey and beer.

This tour focuses on wines and spirits with the added bonus of making your own specialty cocktail.

Start the tour with a distillery tour and end sipping on a delicious cocktail.

The tour is 45 minutes and costs $45 per person.

Whiskey Bartender Experience

Dreamed of being a whiskey bartender? Your dream has come true.

Join this 45 minute tour to learn all things whiskey cocktail. Learn about proper garnishes, simple syrups, and shake and muddle to your hearts content!

The tour is offered on weekends for $60 per person.

Trius Winery

Trius Winery has become Niagara-on-the-Lake’s token Instagram hotspot. The vibes are immaculate ✨🤩

Trius is known for it’s curated photo-op spots and great wine.

Trius Winery Tours & Experiences

Monday Night Date Night

Plan your next date night…

On Monday nights, the Trius Winery Restaurant hosts a date night 2-course dinner for $55 or 3-course dinner for $65.

The Trius Tour: The MOST Instagrammable Winery Tour

The Trius Tour is known as the most Instagrammable winery tour to exist. Get your wine glasses and cameras ready.

Enjoy their beautiful backdrops and interactive art displays while sipping on your rosé. Rosé all day!

When I visited Trius a few years ago they were just starting this out and I have yet to do the elevated tour. Let me know how it is!

Konzelmann Estate Winery

Konzelmann Estate Winery is one of my FAVOURITE wineries in NOTL. They are the only lakefront winery in Niagara and the views are amazing.

If you are visiting on a clear day, you can see the Toronto skyline across Lake Ontario.

Konzelmann is known for their peachwine, I recommend ordering a peachwine sangria while there.

My good friend got married there last summer and it was perfect.

Konzelmann Tours & Experiences

Seated Tasting Experience

I have done a number of tours and tastings at Konzelmann, for a smaller budget, I recommend their basic 3 wine, seated tasting for $10.

The tour is offered daily, purchase it here.

Konzelmann is also known for their unique experiences, which I recommend if you have some extra money to spend.

Private Vineyard Dome Experience in Niagara-on-the-Lake

The Private Vineyard Dome Experience is one of the most highly rated and coolest wine experiences in Niagara on the Lake.

For just $60, sit back in a luxury style dome overlooking Lake Ontario while enjoying charcuterie board pairings and wine.

Your group will have your own private dome, making for a cozy and romantic experience.

This tour is offered daily and requires a reservation in advance.

Reserve your private dome here!

Spring Sips Outdoor Experience

Every weekend this spring, until the end of June, Konzelmann is hosting a 1 hour wine tasting session with a spring floral themed pairing board!

Enjoy their wines alongside crackers and goat cheese, scones with jam and macarons.

The tasting experience costs $40 per person and is available from Thursdays to Sundays.

Reif Estate Winery

Reif Estate Winery hosts regular tastings, premium tastings, walking tours of the winery and a private winemaker’s loft experience.

I recommend the private winemaker’s loft experience for a romantic date night, your date will love you!

Reif Estate Winery Events

Mother’s Day Market

Saturday, May 11th – Sunday, May 12th, 2024

This Mother’s Day, take your mama, your aunt, your friend’s mom or anyone you want to this FREE Mother’s Day Market.

Enjoy sparkling bubbly, live music, food, craft goods from 40+ artisan vendors and more.

Free wine tastings are available for the first 20 people that arrive so, GET THERE EARLY!

This event will be hosted rain or shine, starting at 11am both days!

Reif Fire Dinner

Saturday, September 28th, 2024

Enjoy an incredible night of dinner, wine and entertainment at Reif Estate Winery.

Expect fire throwers, live music, Hawaiian dancers and so much more.

For $130 per ticket, all wine, entertainment and food are included!

You will be eating 10 types of meat (a lot of meat), with a hearty buffet of sides.

Grab your partner or some friends and enjoy a delicious evening.

Two Sisters Vineyards

Two Sisters Vineyards was one of the first vineyards that got me into the wine culture of NOTL.

Two Sisters is a little on the pricier end but I think the beautiful estate is worth the extra $$.

They offer a number of different tastings daily. This summer, look forward to their specialty tastings.

• Veranda Tasting Experience
• Vine to Wine Tour: Starts in the vineyard, ends in the barrel room
• Between the Vines Tasting Experience: Romantic

Be sure to fill up in their delicious restaurant, Kitchen76 after a fulsome tasting.

Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery

Ravine Vineyard is another one of my favourite NOTL wineries. Located a little outside of Niagara-on-the-Lake in St. Davids, enjoy a farm to table dining experience while sipping on fabulous wines.

Wine tastings are offered 7 days a week and winery tours are offered on weekends.

Enjoy 15% off of any purchase with a tour ticket!

I highly recommend spending some time on their outdoor patio and trying their wood oven pizza. The mushroom pizza is to die for!

Pillitteri Estates Winery

Pillitteri is the official wine partner of the Canadian Olympic Team! 🇨🇦

They have special Canadian Team batch of wines and every bottle sold gives a $1 donation to the Canadian Olympic Foundation.

I enjoy this winery in Niagara and find it charming. We did a tour here a couple of years ago and lucked out as the only people on the tour, hello, private tour!!

Tours and tastings are offered daily and prices start at $15.

Château des Charmes

Château des Charmes is not a winery, it is a PALACE. No, don’t worry it’s still a winery.

It is one of the most grand and luxurious wineries in the Niagara on the Lake region.

My good friend is getting married there next month and I cannot wait for the ambience of the venue.

I visited this winery back in the fall months and did a tasting flight. The tour came with a $5 credit to be used for a same day purchase of their wines.

Château des Charmes offers tours in both English and French daily!

Chateau des Charmes Unique Tastings

Icewine and Ice Cream

Have you ever experienced heaven? Well sign up for this tour and the answer will be yes.

For $35 per person enjoy three pairings of icewine and icecream!

Popping the Bubbles

Enjoy three different sparkling wines with three different popcorn pairings! Pop(corn) the sparkling wine! 😂

The tasting costs $35 per person.

Sweet and Salty

For some sweet and salty treats, enjoy 4 wine tastings paired with cheese and chocolates. This tasting costs $35 per person.

Caroline Cellars Family Estate Winery

Although this Niagara winery is listed as 10th here, it has the number ONE spot in my heart.

This winery is so special to me. My husband and I spent the day we got engaged here, because for one, it was already special to us as a couple and two, the wine and food is FABULOUS.

It may not have the appeal of the dreamy estates you’ve visited above, but do NOT let this detour you. This farmhouse winery is quaint, charming and so wonderful.

The wines are delicious, I have tried many on the menu over the years and my favourites are Farmer’s Rosé and Pinot Cherry.

They have a few specialty fruit wines, I recommend you try them all.

Tastings are $5 for 4 wines, this is the cheapest I have been able to find in all of the NOTL wineries I have been to.

After a wine tasting, reserve a table for lunch at the Farmhouse Café. I personally recommend the pulled pork sandwich, the buttermilk chicken sandwich or any of their seasonal menu items.

Colaneri Estate Winery

Colaneri Estate Winery is a stunning palace looking estate winery in NOTL.

Tastings are offered daily for $20 and if you purchase $75 worth of products, the tasting fee is waived! (Not that hard to accomplish, if you ask me).

If you have a larger group, I recommend doing a private tasting for a longer, tailored experience with 5 wine choices.

From June to September their Piazza is open daily, weekdays there is only wine service, on weekends they also serve pizzas!

The Hare Wine Co.

The Hare Wine Co. is a small batch winery, which means it is a winery that creates their wine in small batches to make sure they are just perfect!

The Hare Wine Co. is a gorgeous brick building, known to host weddings and beautiful private events.

Enjoy a glass of wine on their scenic patio with charcuterie or pizza.

They offer a few different tasting options for $20-$30 per person.

Jackson-Triggs Winery

Jackson-Triggs Winery is a super cool winery located in Niagara on the Lake and in Okanagan, British Columbia.

This wine is very popular in Ontario and throughout Canada. 

In the summer months they host concerts in their amphitheater, look forward to people like Brett Kissel and Dwayne Gretzky!

Check out their full 2024 Summer Concert Series!

Tastings are $12-$25, winery tours are $35 per person. 

Inniskillin

Inniskillin is Canada’s first estate winery, dating back to 1975. Funnily enough, I just visited this winery for the first time last summer!

Tours and tastings are offered daily. Explore the winery for $35-$40, or do an Icewine experience for $60.

Inniskillin Experiences

Inniskillin Cooking Class

Monthly

Looking for a fun cooking class with lots of wine? You are in the right place. 

For $150, start cooking a delicious meal while eating charcuterie and drinking 2 glasses of wine.

When you sit back to have your dinner enjoy three wines, a red, white and icewine. 

Upcoming Classes for 2024:

• May: Mexican Fiesta
• June: Italian Feast
• July: Greek Gathering
• August: Peach Festival Inspired
• September: Harvest Cookout
• October: Thanksgiving Celebration
• November: French Delicacy
• December: Italian Feast

You and I Paint

Monthly

Enjoy a paint night at Inniskillin.

Paint beautiful art while drinking 2 glasses of wine. The experience costs $115 per person.

Strewn Winery

Strewn Winery has many different tasting options to choose from. Strewn offers personalized tastings daily. 

Starting in the summer months, enjoy personalized tastings on the patio or tours through the vineyard. 

They used to have this delicious restaurant OLiV Tapas Bar & Restaurant on site… I actually loved it, it was the dinner we had before our engagement, I wish they had not closed it down!

Stratus Vineyards

Stratus is a very sexy winery. It is modern, sleek and the wine is fantastic.

Visit for a daily wine tasting or do a food and wine pairing experience. 

Lakeview Wine Co.

Lakeview Wine Co. is another modern winery in Niagara on the Lake.

Visit them for a basic wine tasting, an icewine tasting, or spend some time through their vines on a winery tour. 

On weekends they offer a wine and dumpling flight for $40, delicious.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Winery Tours

Full Day Niagara-on-the-Lake Guided Wine and Charcuterie Tour

I have done many trips to Niagara on the Lake between wineries, and let me tell you, it is significantly more fun as a tour.

Look, who doesn’t want to get driven around to enjoy wine all day?

There are a few highly rated tour but this one is a perfect 5 star tour.

Pick up at your accommodation is at 10-10:30am with a maximum capacity of 14 people, (great for a Niagara bachelorette party).

Visit some of the best Niagara on the Lake wineries: Pillitteri, Konzelmann and Reif Estate Winery (wineries may change last minute).

For $165 per person and 3-4 wine tastings per winery you are looking at 12-16 tastings each. Lunch is not included.

The tour ends after you get dropped off at your hotel or Airbnb.

Click here to book this full day wine tour!

Niagara-on-the-Lake Cycle and Wine Tasting Tour

Have you ever dreamed of biking through the lush vineyards, winery to winery? Not me, but all the power to you.

This cycle tour is popular and VERY well regarded as one of the best tours in the NOTL region.

Opt for a full day tour with lunch or 4 hour half day tour. Cycle between wineries and bike along quaint country roads and trails.

The tour allows for a medium group of 12 people.

Included in the tour fee: wine tasting fees, vineyard tour, bike and helmet, charcuterie (half day tour) or lunch (full day).

Book your cycle winery tour here.

myWineCountry Tour by Brewery & Distillery Tours Niagara

The myWineCountry Tour is offered between the three Peller wineries: Peller Estates, Trius Winery and Wayne Gretzky Estates.

This tour is the ultimate wine tour with pick up and drop off to ensure EVERYONE enjoys the liquid gold that makes Niagara famous. 

This is a full day tour hosted daily from May – September. 

Starting with pick up at 10 AM.

Visit Peller Estates to complete the above mentioned “Greatest Winery Tour”, followed by lunch reservation at the Whisky Bar Patio (lunch not included in the price), then the full Trius Winery Tour and tasting, ending finally with The Gretzky Estates Tour.

The winery tour costs $199 per person. Purchase tickets here!

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Say Farewell to Niagara on the Lake Wineries

Niagara-on-the-Lake is one of a kind. Any Ontario vacation needs to include a day in the NOTL region and a day in Niagara Falls.

You most likely will be using Toronto as your starting point for your trip to Niagara. If you need some help planning your Toronto vacation, visit my 2 day Toronto itinerary or Toronto in autumn guide!

I also recommend visiting other regions of Ontario. Take a Tobermory tour from Toronto or visit on your own with this Bruce Peninsula itinerary.

Message me for any Ontario summer needs!

Enjoy the Niagara wine! Cheers. 🥂